


the starlight that shines more on the darkest nights

by Parkour_Luck



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, IronDad and SpiderSon, Precious Peter Parker, Precious Tony Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is literally Peter's Taekwondo Teacher but that's the only important detail, no powers au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 03:04:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19737040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parkour_Luck/pseuds/Parkour_Luck
Summary: Tony gets a new student; Needless to say, he didn't expect to become as interested in the kid's life as he did.





	the starlight that shines more on the darkest nights

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Mikrokosmos by BTS.

* * *

Tony wasn't too sure what he was expecting when they'd told him he had a new client. Sure, he'd given private lessons to kids before but they'd all been either younger or simply had wanted to get better. Yet, standing in front of him, was probably the smallest kid he'd seen before for someone who was so clearly in his teens. If he was being honest, he wasn't too sure about how to even begin the lesson but he supposed he had figure it out before the kid imploded from how red his face was becoming from being sized up.

"Had any experience with this?" He fixed his belt as he did, turning his gaze away from the kid in order to allow the other to breathe.

"Um, n-no... sir," the kid stuttered and Tony smiled at the shy voice. He supposed he could start at the beginning... Besides, the kid reminded him of himself when he had been younger and lost and still forcefully pushed into the world - maybe this time, he could help someone grow to be confident in themselves just as he had eventually learned to be on his own.

"Very well, I can work with that. Come here."

And that, was how it began.

* * *

He wasn't ready for it, not really. He had always realized he'd like kids but the way in which he'd been brought up had made it difficult for him to wish for his own kids. That was why he was surprised whenever he felt warmth bloom in his chest at the thought of Peter's own practice sessions. The kid had somehow managed his way into Tony's heart and he could not say he was entirely mad at it. And it seemed that neither were the rest of his friends if the knowing smile on their faces whenever he talked about Peter's practices were anything to go by.

"Hi, Mr. Stark," Peter said, ducking his head as he always did when he walked into the building. At this point, Tony was used to it. He knew that building up the kid's confidence would take a while but there had already been improvement in the few weeks the kid had been attending his lessons.

"Hey yourself, kiddo. You're late," Tony pointed to the spot beside him as he waited for the other to start stretching and warming up. "So, what happened in school today? Passed that test? What's up?"

Peter sighed, lifting his head slightly to glance at Tony then at his backpack, "I passed... got an A, actually. Um, I'll go change and be right back."

"Work on that," Tony hummed, glancing at Peter slightly and freezing as he caught sight of something. "Hurry back, we're losing daylight."

"Got it, Mr. Stark."

"So, you trying out a new look?" Tony looked over at Peter who's widened before he avoided all eye contact with him. "Come on, Pete. I thought we were at the talking to each other about our problems part already."  
  
They were. Tony, for some odd reason, liked to share about his day with Peter. It helped the teen begin to open up to him and always left Tony feeling lighter at the end of the day. Truthfully, Tony didn't know why he started doing that when he felt like he was getting benefited from it the most. Of course, it had taken a couple of sessions for Peter to try opening up as well but when it happened, both of them had ended up with sore stomachs from laughing so much. It was the first time Tony had seen Peter be as open and bright as he could be.

"No offense, Mr. Stark, but I'd rather keep this to myself," Peter huffed, going back to concentrating on what he was doing.

"Is this why you take lessons? For self-defense? Because I shouldn't be teaching you this if you're going to go out and actively use it on someone without it being self-defense or doing it competitively."

Peter's gaze hardened as he glared lightly at Tony before sighing when the elder sat on the floor and patted the space beside him. "Mr. Stark-"

"Tony. Now, tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened. It was just the usual... you know?"

"Actually, I don't know, Peter. Why don't you explain that to me."

"Kids being kids... roughhousing and all..."

"Pete, not sure if you realize but those who are your age should be past roughhousing. So what is it? You get bullied at school and no one intervenes?" Tony grimaced, the idea of Peter having hid more bruises from him since he'd begun his lessons was not something he liked to even think about. He'd had his suspicions as to why someone like Peter was so soft-spoken... At first he'd assumed that the kid dealt with some form of anxiety but Peter had no qualms talking to him - it just took him getting used to Tony to do so - so that had gone out the window after that afternoon full of laughter.

"No... maybe," Peter bit his lip, fidgeting with his clothes then looking at Tony. It was the first time he'd looked at him in the eye since he'd entered that day. The sight had Tony wincing at the dark bruising around Peter's right eye. His cheek was also slightly swollen but it didn't seem to bother Peter much, regardless Tony had immediately gotten up to get his first aid kit and then set to helping Peter as much as he could. "Mr- Tony, I'm fine."

"That's not what your face is showing me. Just let me do this and tell me how it happened. Why are you roughed up?"

Peter pursed his lips, gaze confused as he stared at Tony, "Why do you care so much?"

"Because, I've been there except that I had no one until I met Rhodey and Pepper. I know that you think you can deal with these things on your own but what you're really doing is holding things in and that's not exactly the best way to go about it."

"Then what is the best way to go about it, Mr. Stark?"

"Facing it head on. I know the last thing you want to do is tell an adult but sometimes you just have to or this will get worse. I don't want to think about whatever whoever is hurting you will do if they get bored of just roughing you up. You get that, right?"

"I think so," Peter furrowed his brows at Tony's words then narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Stark, why do you care so much?"

"Because, you're a good kid, Peter. You deserve more than you're getting... Besides, why let someone else beat you up when I'm teaching you how to fight? That would be an insult," Tony sniffed and Peter laughed.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Stark," Peter giggled, playfully pushing at Tony's hand and shaking his head. "Thank you..."

"Don't mention it... but do mention why you stopped calling me Tony."

"It's weird!!"

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"You might as well call me old man if you're going to continue calling me Mr. Stark, Peter."

"You got it, old man."

"Peter!"

"You said to-"

"Whatever, come on, I've got teens to beat up."

"MR. STARK!"

"I'm kidding!!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely lavender anon for requesting this on Tumblr. As someone who tends to write angst, this was both a breath of fresh air and just absolutely lovely to write. [Also shout-out to my best friend who was freaking out over the cuteness of certain parts and just encouraged me to finish it all in one go. Love you, Art. <3 ]


End file.
